Backups at LJPc hosting: what we back up every night and how to get it back

With LJPc hosting, your website, databases and email are backed up automatically every night to a separate backup server in the Netherlands. If something goes wrong, open a support ticket and we restore an earlier version for you: your whole website or only the part you need. Want to choose the moment yourself or keep a backup for a long time? Then also make your own backups in Plesk.

How often does LJPc back up my website?

Every night. On all our hosting servers the backup starts at midnight, Dutch time (CET/CEST), and is stored on a separate backup server. It is switched on for every hosting plan, so there is nothing for you to configure.

Once a week we make a full backup. On the nights in between we store what has changed since the night before. For a restore this makes no difference to you: we bring back the state of the night you need.

What is included in the nightly backup?

If you use a backup plugin in WordPress, preferably let it send its backups to external storage, such as your own cloud storage. Backups inside your website folder sit on the same server as your website, and they count towards the storage of your plan. You can see how much storage you use in check your storage usage.

How do I request a restore?

The nightly backups are kept on our backup server, so you will not see them in your own Backup Manager in Plesk: that only lists the backups you make yourself. To restore from the nightly backup, ask us.

1. First check whether you can undo it yourself. Deleted email is often still in the Trash folder of your mail app or webmail. If a WordPress update went wrong, roll it back with the WP Toolkit restore point, as described in update WordPress safely. Made a backup yourself? Restore it with how to back up your website.
2. Create a support ticket in the customer portal. See create a support ticket for how it works.
3. Mention which website, database or email address it is about.
4. Describe what you want back: your whole website, a specific folder or specific files, only the database, or a mailbox.
5. Say when things went wrong, for example "since Tuesday afternoon". We then pick the backup from the night before.
6. Choose a fitting priority. If your website or web shop is completely offline, choose Highest.

As soon as we reply, you receive an email with a link to your ticket. After the restore, check that your website and email work as expected and let us know in the ticket.

Is your website down outside business hours and can it not wait until the next working day? Then make an emergency call.

What happens when we restore something?

A restore brings the item back to the state of the night you choose. Good to know in advance:

• Database: afterwards it is exactly as it was that night. Anything added later, such as orders, comments, form submissions and new posts, is no longer in it. Running a web shop? Write down the orders placed after that moment first.
• Files: the files from the backup return in the version of that night and replace the current files with the same name. If you only want one folder or one file back, name it in your ticket.
• Mailbox: we bring back the messages that were in the mailbox that night. Email that arrived and was deleted between two nightly backups is not in any backup.

Want to keep the current state before we restore? Make a backup in Plesk yourself first, so you can always go back to today. You open Plesk from the portal, see open Plesk from the customer portal.

When is your own backup useful?

The nightly backup is there to repair recent damage, such as a failed update, a deleted folder or a hack. Your own backups in Plesk give you full control on top of that:

• You choose the moment, for example right before a major update, a new theme or a move to a newer PHP version. To try changes on a copy of your WordPress site, create a staging site.
• You decide how long to keep it. Download a backup to your own computer or cloud storage regularly. If you ever need a version from months ago, you will have it at hand.
• You restore it whenever it suits you, also in the evening or at the weekend.
• You keep a copy when you cancel. Cancelling your hosting plan? Make your own backup before the end date. See cancel a subscription and, for your email, close a mailbox and keep your email.

How to create, schedule, download and restore a backup in Plesk is explained step by step in how to back up your website.

Backups after a hack or malware

Did we alert you about possible malware, or has your website been hacked? A clean backup from before the infection is often the fastest way back. First find out since when the suspicious files have been there, so you pick a backup from before that date, and then close the hole, or the infection will come back. See malware alert from LJPc for the full approach.

Your insurer or auditor asks about your backups

A cyber insurance form or an audit often asks how your backups are arranged. For your hosting at LJPc you can answer:

• an automatic backup every night of website files, databases and email;
• stored on a separate backup server in the Netherlands, apart from the hosting server;
• a full backup every week, with the changes on the nights in between;
• restores on request through a support ticket, of the whole website or part of it;
• on top of that, your own backups in Plesk, at a moment and with a retention you choose yourself.

Does your insurer need more details? Ask your question in a support ticket.